My Husband the Pirate
by Kat R. Fair
Summary: AU, Mpreg, OT5. There are 3 families capable of MPreg, the Echizen's are one of them. During a cruise Ryoma is kidnapped, along with his bodyguard, and engages in a shotgun wedding to Atobe.
1. Chapter 1

Trust me... I don't own Prince of Tennis. Truuuuuust me. It belongs to Konomi and a number of other people.

I confess that I am rather worried that I have completely lost my mind... but that might just be me. Or, you know, the singing pirates that are forcing me to write this fic. Damn those singing pirates.

---

Ryoma sighed as he hung off the edge of the ship. It was just like his father to decide to send him off on a pleasure cruise. Though the official reason was that Ryoma was learning more about the Echizen's ocean provinces, however much his father lied to his wife and advisors, Ryoma could see it for what it was.

The bevy of scantily clad women on this ship certainly helped his thesis. Still, Ryoma enjoyed the chance to get out into the fresh air instead of being stuck in a stifling castle, even if it had taken him a little while to get his sea legs. His bodyguard, on the other hand, was, as always, attentive, careful and most of all, totally uncaring about what anyone would be suffering under normal circumstances. Not only had Tezuka stepped onto the ship and acquired his sea legs in the course of a few seconds, but he was not subjected to motion sickness and was even able to help the sailors out on their duties. It was like Tezuka had been born on a ship, which considering the limited information Ryoma had on his bodyguard, was entirely possible.

"Young master, dinner will be served soon." Ryoma sighed and glanced back at the stalwart older man. Tezuka had mysteriously appeared in his father's province four years ago when Ryoma was twelve and Tezuka, fourteen. He had no family or given name, all he had responded to was 'Tezuka'. The boy had made a name for himself as an excellent swordsman, despite his young age, and had found himself quickly hired to take care of the Echizen heir. Tezuka was also supposed to be his 'companion,' though at first his job had been mostly as a nanny. While the other did not discourage Ryoma's wild jaunts, his mere presence was enough to stifle even the most feral of adventures, just because Ryoma knew he disapproved, and for some reason he wanted his bodyguard to approve of him.

"We'll be dining with the captain again I guess?" Ryoma asked with a sigh. The captain of this ship was a female named Hanamura. While the captain of the Jyousei Shounan was a good sailor, she was a bit of a pervert. Seriously, the woman was old enough to be his mother, but kept trying to sleep with him! She was nearly three times his age! She hit on Tezuka too, but seeing as his bodyguard was made of stone, Ryoma sincerely doubted she got very far. Maybe he should just tell the older woman that his tastes ran more to her second-in-command Kajimoto then to her. . . . On the other hand she'd probably ask if she could watch. Shuddering, Ryoma returned to his quarters to prepare for dinner.

--

The cruise had been fairly boring. Ryoma had visited the islands that were in his family's name and had met with all the local governors. Some of them were kind but most of them were greedy. It was no use trying to hide the hunger for wealth, power, or prestige when one was faced with an Echizen. They were well known for their insight into who could be trusted and who could not. It was why that despite Tezuka's mysterious past or nature, no one questioned why he had been chosen as Ryoma's bodyguard. When Ryoma looked at Tezuka he saw someone who was strong, an immovable object. When Ryoma's father looked at Ryoma he saw an unstoppable force. It was just plain logical to put the two together.

Tezuka himself had plenty of reasons to be glad to have managed a position as Ryoma's bodyguard. For one thing, the Echizen lands were plenty far away from anywhere Tezuka did not want to be. Another, his young charge was full of surprises and hidden strengths. The boy from a few years ago had evolved into a teenager who could hold his own against Tezuka in a sword fight or a game of chess. The other might not have gotten to quite the right level to beat his father, but he was improving slowly and steadily. Given a few more years he would overcome his father.

Right now though, he was still very much a developing young man, and one who would need protection. Tezuka knew what was out there in the world, just waiting to pounce. He had been apprehensive about this trip from the start; it put the young master at a severe disadvantage and made him a huge target as well.

--

A pair of glowing eyes removed themselves from the binoculars. Turning to the two men behind him he smiled slightly. "Attack."

--

It happened during dinner, just as Captain Hanamura had lifted her glass to raise a toast to their voyage, their cook, and of course Ryoma, one of the crewmen burst into the room. "Captain! Pirates!" Instantly, the room was in a flurry, the officers standing and heading for the deck while the rich among the diners became flustered and nervous. Ryoma started to head after the sailors but was pulled to the side by his bodyguard.

"Echizen-sama, you have to remain safe." Ryoma glowered slightly.

"I can fight." Tezuka sighed and pulled the boy in the direction of his room, as many of the escorts were doing with their charges. Placing the boy in his rooms, he stepped inside as well and grabbed several of the weapons he did not always carry on him. Ryoma was also arming himself, and once Tezuka turned to leave he was ready. Tezuka put his hand on Ryoma's shoulder.

"It is not that I do not think you can fight, but that I would prefer you did not. We put too much responsibility on your shoulders already. Stay here, stay safe, and protect yourself. I will be back if we cannot hold the pirates off. Don't get careless." And with a turn that deserved a cape to have the right effect, Tezuka left the room. Ryoma sighed and began to pace as an itch formed under his skin. He wanted to be out there, he wanted to be helping. Ryoma hated being dead weight, hated being left behind and being taken care of. Hated it.

--

Tezuka reached the deck by the time the first wave of their attackers came over the edge of the ship. As the fighting began, the first thing Tezuka noticed was the covered faces. A warning bell chimed as he dodged a sword swipe and returned it with a neat parry. These were no normal pirates, normal pirates wanted to be recognized. They did not hide their faces and they certainly did not attack like trained troops. Tezuka dodged a thrust and neatly skewered the body attacking him. As he threw the dead weight off of his sword, he noticed two dark shadows slipping down into the hold. His first thoughts flying towards his young master and the other passengers, Tezuka dodged through the various fights around him and headed after the two shadows.

--

"His room should be down this way." One voice purred in the darkness.

"How can you see in this darkness? Did you have to get rid of the light?" The second voice hissed angrily as he headed in the direction mentioned. A sound, slight like someone had scuffed their foot slightly. The first voice glanced towards the second shadow and gave a light push on his back before turning towards the noise.

--

Inwardly, Tezuka cursed. His vision was shot from the sudden change from early-evening light to the sudden pitch dark of the hold. The people who had come in before were just ahead of him, but Tezuka could not hear more then a murmur of words. Not to mention he was out of practice at being entirely silent, he had never quite perfected the art and had not been practicing lately. He had been careless and he was going to pay for it. Tezuka dodged to the right as a sword impaled itself in the wall where his heart would have been. This guy was certainly good, Tezuka wondered if he could have beaten the other if he had control of his left hand. As it was, Tezuka had been fighting right handed for slightly over five years now. He had managed to achieve a level of fighting better then almost anyone else, but he knew better then anyone that there were better opponents out there.

Keeping an eye on the few stray beams of light that came in through the one window in the hold, Tezuka focused on using all of his senses to fight this man off. He needed to get to Ryoma.

The fight lasted a while, Tezuka pulling out moves he had not used in ages and using reserves of strength he had not had the need to use since Nanjiroh had asked him to prove he could protect his son. Not even Ryoma-sama brought out this amount of effort from him. Suddenly, too fast for him to see the sword pinned him through his left shoulder to the wall. He screamed out in surprise and pain. As if that shoulder wasn't messed up enough already. His right hand dropped his sword and he cursed himself. Carelessness, carelessness was going to get him killed.

"Kunimitsu?" A familiar voice asked, and Tezuka hit his head hard on the wall as it swung up and away from that voice. Their fight had maneuvered steadily closer to one of the few windows in the hold and Tezuka was pinned so that his face was in the light. His attacker stepped closer and drew off his facemask. "It is you." He said with wonder in his voice. Tezuka jerked away from the hand that touched his cheek. Down the hall, a door opened and a familiar figure stood in the light for a second too long.

--

Ryoma paused in his room. Something was wrong. Turning to face the door, Ryoma tried to listen to what was going on outside of it. There was the clang of a sword fight, but it was only one person fighting instead of many. Why couldn't he hear the sounds of the crew fighting? Ryoma recognized the sound of that sword fighting though, the pure ring of the metal, the timing and precision of attacks. His bodyguard was fighting right outside his door and Ryoma could not help him. Then there was the sudden sound of metal penetrating flesh and hitting wood, followed by a scream that made Ryoma's blood run cold. Tezuka was hurt, he might be dying. Why was he still standing in there? Grabbing his sword with one hand, Ryoma opened the door with the other.

On one end of the hall stood his tall bodyguard, leaking blood from one shoulder with a sword stabbed through it. The left hand idly twitched and Tezuka's sword lay at his feet. Ryoma started out into the hallway, but the panic in Tezuka's eyes told him that the enemy was not the one in front of Tezuka, but the one behind Ryoma. Whirling, the younger man brought up his sword in order to catch the down stroke, but it was quickly followed by a fist slamming into his head that he could not see or prepare for.

Ryoma's world went black, and the last thing he saw were Tezuka's horrified eyes.

--

"Ryoma!" Tezuka cried as the second shadow, Sanada, Tezuka knew it had to be Sanada, knocked his charge out. Reflex he had not used in years kicking in, Tezuka flipped his blade slightly with his foot and then casually tossed it with the tip of his toes back into his right hand. Lunging out and ignoring the fact that he was still pinned like a butterfly, Tezuka stabbed at Fuji, forcing the other to back off before he grasped the sword in his shoulder and pulled it out with a yell, flinging the bloody sword at Sanada's back as he dodged the sudden attack to his left by Fuji. Twisting away from the other, Tezuka used his nearly disabled left hand to pull out a dagger and toss it to the right, catching it in his fingertips while he balanced his sword still. Easily tossing the dagger back at Fuji, Tezuka nearly managed to tackle Sanada to the ground but there was a suddenly blinding pain in his leg. Fuji had grabbed onto it and pulled, twisting the ankle. Fuji easily avoided his clumsy blow with his sword, and using the hilt of the dagger he had earlier thrown, hit Tezuka hard enough to knock him out.

Glancing up at Sanada, who was carrying the much lighter load of Ryoma, Fuji smiled mirthlessly. "You want to trade?" He asked mockingly.

--

When Ryoma opened his eyes, it was not to an environment he knew. The light was too bright for it to be the cruise ship, and the colors of the room too garish and expensive to be any room in the palace back home. Rubbing his temples and hoping it would help the headache, Ryoma checked over his condition. No bad bruises, no blood, all limbs intact, clothes still on, just the headache. Whoever had kidnapped him was a professional then, most probably the large 'pirate' attack had been a set up to isolate Ryoma and take him. Frowning, Ryoma remembered one important part about the whole incident. Tezuka. Where was Tezuka?

Standing, Ryoma got off of the large bed and let his eyes wander around the room. It was a male's room, but one with odd tastes and a fashion sense that led towards frills and frippery. Spotting two doors right next to each other, Ryoma debated which one might lead him out. Reaching out cautiously, he turned the handle on the right one.

Five seconds later, Ryoma hurriedly shut that door, shuddering slightly. Really, who needed that many clothes! Reaching for the other door, Ryoma twisted the handle slowly and peeked outside. All he saw was a normal sitting room. As he began to open the door a little wider, a couch came into view and on the couch was . . . Tezuka! Throwing the door open, Ryoma rushed to where his bandaged bodyguard was lying.

"So sleeping beauty awakes." A droll voice commented from somewhere to the left of Ryoma. The other boy stopped several feet away from the couch and turned to face whoever was speaking to him. There, sitting on a throne-like chair, was a silver haired man with teal eyes. On one side was a tall black haired man with a stern, dangerous expression, while on the other there stood the man who had attacked his bodyguard. The man was deceptively frail, with soft blond hair and a kind smile on his face. Ryoma had no doubt it was fake.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Ryoma growled out and caught the three amused glances shared by those in and around the throne. The silver haired boy stood and walked towards Ryoma, stopping when he was around five feet away. "I am Atobe Keigo, but you can address me as 'Master'." Ryoma was stunned.

"What?"

--

Atobe did not even bother to conceal his smirk, playing with this brat was too much fun. The kid was good looking, athletic and just a little short, but with big gold eyes and thick hair so black it was nearly green. The young man's muscles were clenched now in anger, and his eyes were lit with an inner fury that just made Atobe want to claim him more. "You heard me. You, Ryoma Echizen-kun, are to call me Master. Because at this point in this voyage, that is what I am." Ryoma was gritting his teeth and no doubt biting back a hundred horrible curses. The other boy took a few deep breaths before he was able to speak again.

"What do you want with me?" Atobe grinned at this and behind him he knew that Fuji had opened his eyes to a slit and Sanada was grimacing. This was so the best part of the conversation.

"Oh, it's fairly simple really. I want you to bear my child."

--

He wanted . . . what! Ryoma blinked as he gaped at the other boy. That... it... it wasn't possible! Ryoma opened his mouth to snap at the other about not wanting to be played with when Atobe spoke before him.

"Oh I know what you're thinking, it isn't possible. Well you'd be wrong on that. It is quite possible, though the ability for men to bear children is very rare. There are three family lines in the world still able to do it today. There is the Kamio line, but the most recent heir of that is a skinny arsed brat with too many suitors already, and then there is the Echizen line, of which you are a pure blooded male descendant." Ryoma ground his teeth together. Surely if it was possible someone would have told him? His oyaji . . . would not have thought that he would end up having sex with another man, and definitely would not consider the possibility of his son bottoming. And kaa-san was barely around, Nanako-chan would not broach the subject and none of his tutors had thought to. Damn them, all too social and polite.

"You said three." Ryoma bit out when his thinking circled back to that key fact. Atobe grinned at this and the younger boy knew he had been set up for that.

"Aa, I did, didn't I." At this point, Atobe started to walk around the room. Ryoma turned his body to follow Atobe as the other boy circled, and noticed when the silver haired boy came to a stop right behind Tezuka's couch. He bristled when Atobe ran a possessive hand through Tezuka's hair and gave him a predatory stare. "There is a branch family of the Atobe line that carries the ability for males to have children. Unfortunately my only male cousin has been missing for the past five years. I have to thank you though for bringing him back to me." Atobe brought the unconscious boys lax hand up to his mouth and kissed the fingers all the while watching Ryoma.

"His name is Tezuka." Ryoma gritted out. There was no way that Tezuka could be related to this creep!

"Clever of you, 'Mitsu to use your Grandmother's maiden name to hide behind, and so far away too." Atobe stated as he gave the others hand an affectionate kiss before placing it back beside the still body and focusing on Ryoma. "His name is Atobe Kunimitsu and he is my cousin. Kunimitsu disappeared a few years ago after an accident with his left shoulder, I assume you have never seen him fight with it?" Ryoma shook his head, still not believing anything that came out of this bastard's mouth. Sure, Tezuka seemed to do everything with his left had except fight with it . . . but there could be lots of reasons for that! "I'm afraid his shoulder was injured and that he left us because of that." Atobe's hand was now resting on the bandaged left shoulder. "Though it does not seem like Syuusuke did him any favors," he pointed a quick glare to the still smiling man who just shrugged it off. Ryoma glowered.

A slight noise came from the figure on the couch as he stirred. Eyelids flickered before they snapped open and Tezuka sat up immediately, backing away from the hand touching him. Eyes wide and slightly panicked, he looked around the room and caught sight of Ryoma standing there. His shoulders slumped a little then before he regained his composure. Ryoma watched all this happen in the span of a few seconds. Apparently his bodyguard did know these people. "His father will be looking for him." Tezuka said, turning away from Ryoma and locking eyes on Atobe.

"No hello, cousin? It's been so long since I last saw you." Atobe purred as he smirked at the other man. Kunimitsu had always been fun to tease because of his serious nature. It had been an activity he had missed in his cousin's five-year absence. Now though, Atobe could get away with all the teasing he had missed out on, the other was not going anywhere. Neither was the Echizen boy, and he looked like he would be just as much fun to tease. Especially if he might be able to get that wide eyed look that Ryoma was wearing right now. It was just too cute.

"Not long enough." Kunimitsu snapped and turned his head to lock eyes with the boy. Atobe could guess what he was trying to communicate. Probably one of the deepest most harrowing of love confessions, either that or 'I'm sorry.' Both were equally hard for Kunimitsu to say.

"You... you're actually related to this guy?" Ryoma spluttered out. Kunimitsu, having faithfully delivered his ocular message was now studiously avoiding looking at anyone in particular.

"Unfortunately." Kunimitsu growled and had backed himself into the arm of the couch trying to get away from Atobe's hands. Atobe smirked slightly and continued touching his long-lost cousin. The other boy's eye was beginning to twitch slightly, always a good judge of just how much Atobe getting to him. "Is there a reason you kidnapped us, Atobe-sama?" Atobe clutched at his chest slightly, how cruel of his cousin.

"Back to formalities, Kunimitsu? You know you can just call me Keigo." Not that the other had ever called him Keigo, but it was fun to see that twitch get worse. "And there is a reason behind your abduction. One of you is going to bear my child." Oh good, the twitch had stopped but the other had definitely paled. So much fun.

"One of us?" Ryoma now looked worried, he darted a worried glance at his bodyguard before going back to glaring at Atobe. "I thought you said you wanted me to bear your child." Kunimitsu stiffened under his hand and Atobe smiled triumphantly. Oh, everything was going perfectly, Kunimitsu's sudden appearance had even helped the plan along instead of throwing a wrench in it.

"But I don't want someone who would find the first chance to get rid of the child entrusted with my heir. It would be dangerous. So the choice is either you or Kunimitsu." Oh Kunimitsu was stiff as a board now, it was so much fun to see all those muscles tighten up like that. Ryoma looked like he had just swallowed a particularly nasty frog too.

--

As Ryoma watched Tezuka open his mouth, no doubt to take the duty of bearing that bastard's child on himself, he just could not take it anymore. Sure, the other might have betrayed him but there had to have been a reason to keep his history hidden. More then that, Ryoma was betting the monkey king was somehow behind Tezuka's mysterious shoulder injury and the reason the older man had left for parts unknown. Ryoma just could not sit back and allow his friend, and despite their differences he and his guard were friends, to make that decision.

"I'll do it." He stated decisively and watched the Monkey's eyes light up in glee. He had a sinking feeling that this had all been manipulated but shored up his determination. He was going to do this, he would protect Tezuka . . . Kunimitsu... whatever his name was.

"Ah, well then. To the bedroom!" Atobe chuckled evilly and Ryoma glared. On the couch Tezuka choked and started to move towards the silver-haired man, but the other was already walking towards his hired minions. "Fuji, Sanada, I trust you can see Kunimitsu safely to his room." Tezuka blanched and Ryoma wondered why before the bastard started pushing him towards the bedroom. "I'll see you three in the morning!" Atobe called out cheerily as he shut the door behind him.

--

Fuji let his eyes open a little to observe his prey. Kunimitsu had always been so skittish and now he looked ready to bolt. A good thing that sprained ankle would undoubtedly give him problems. Next to him, Sanada was grumbling slightly under his breath. The other man hated being given 'babysitting' jobs by Atobe, but Fuji found his entertainment where he could. And right now it was a nineteen-year-old man whose company he had been missing for far too long. "Ne, Kunimitsu. Would you like to see your room or wait here?" There was the sound of a slight struggle in the bedroom and then a sudden crash followed by silence. The brown haired teen's eyes widened at the moan which came shortly after.

"I would like to leave." He stated gruffly, standing up and glaring slightly. Fuji chuckled, Kunimitsu's glares had been the bane of the rabble-rousers back at Atobe's palace, but Fuji had long grown immune to it, Sanada was immune to a great many things by default. Stepping up beside the taller boy Fuji magnanimously gestured in front of them. Kunimitsu had just cleared the doorway when a shout swiftly cut off by a loud groan echoed from the bedroom.

--

"Don't do t-that!" Ryoma stammered as he stared wide-eyed down at the other teen. Atobe smirked evilly before quirking an eyebrow.

"Don't do what? This?" And then he licked a long stripe up the underside of Ryoma's cock and watched as the boy arched his back and gave a strangled scream. When he finally regained some of his brain cells, Ryoma went back to glaring.

"Yes, that, exactly! Don't do it!" Atobe smirked at that and instead opened up a bottle of oil with his left hand while his right was busy playing with the boy's nipple. Smirking he nibbled on the neglected nipple and listened to the boy moaned. Then he started probing him with an oil covered finger. "What the hell? Aagh!" Ryoma shouted as he jolted at the intrusion.

--

Considering that Fuji could still hear the noises all the way out in the hallway, he knew that he was missing quite a show in order to escort Kunimitsu back to his rooms. Not that Fuji minded because Kunimitsu was a show all in himself. Especially those lovely twitches every time the boy let out a long moan. Unfortunately the sounds got quieter and quieter until the disappeared as they walked to Kunimitsu's room. Fuji could only guess that Atobe had chosen a room this far away specifically so the sex sounds from each room would not reach the other. Which was all good to Fuji since it meant he would not be interrupted if he decided to play with Kunimitsu a bit. And really, Atobe had picked out a room specifically designed for sex.

"The room of a concubine." Kunimitsu muttered after he had stepped inside and seen the room. It was luxurious, but in an overdone manner, with silks and hanging drapes and sheer fabrics. The other man had no doubt that he would be forced back into wearing the clothes he used to wear back at the Atobe palace. "I guess I should be grateful he doesn't have me in shackles," the other man muttered, staunchly ignoring the two silent figures behind him.

"He was considering it, but when he realized how much it might tempt his new conquest to see you chained up at the foot of his bed . . . he decided against it." Fuji stated slyly, and enjoyed the other's flinch.

--

Ryoma gasped and arched his back as Atobe finally entered him. It felt really good, if slightly painful. "Does it hurt?" Atobe asked carefully. He did not want to injure his bedmate, and since he would be having repeated bouts of sex with the boy until he finally conceived, it was not that stupid of a question to ask. Atobe knew that it probably hurt, considering the boy was a virgin in this manner, but he needed to know how much.

"A little, it burns. It's good." Ryoma gasped out, high on the euphoria of pleasure. His mind was awash in a sea of good feelings and he did not think he would ever get enough of this. That was, until Atobe had started to move. Atobe smirked above him as the younger teen arched again, gasping and shuddering and looking moments away from completely losing it. "Faster!" Ryoma ordered and the other was all too willing to comply.

"Pushy bottom." Atobe muttered slightly but it was with a fond edge to it. It seemed the boy was already growing on him.

--

"Don't touch me." Tezuka backed away from Fuji's hands and stopped at the edge of the bed, cursing the other silently for backing him into it. Damn the man, he had always made Tezuka feel vulnerable. Sanada was leaning against the wall and watching with a vaguely fascinated expression and Tezuka took the time to curse him too. Damn them all.

"Now, now 'Mitsu. You know that someone's going to get the bright idea to sleep with you, if it's me, it means that none of those 'pirates' are going to be knocking at your door." Fuji cooed sweetly. "And I'm sure that if Sanada joins in we could even keep Atobe away from your sweet ass." Tezuka flinched backwards as Fuji advanced and found himself sprawled on the bed.

Damn them all.

--

Ryoma lay curled up in the bed, deep in slumber after their previous activities. Beside him, Atobe was leaning against the headboard and thinking. They would have to stay on the boat until Ryoma conceived, and then they could head back to the Atobe palace. Kunimitsu would not take the chance to escape if he knew he would be leaving his pregnant charge in Atobe's hands. Ryoma himself would not be in any state to escape and afterwards Atobe would just have to tighten security. Of course, hopefully at that point Ryoma would have grown attached to him and would not want to leave.

There was a quiet knock at his door and Ryoma moved a little in his sleep, mumbling and burying his face into his pillow. "Come in." Atobe called out and placed his hand on Ryoma's back, rubbing soothing circles. Fuji opened the door a slit and slipped in quietly, his smiling mask firmly in place. "I trust that Kunimitsu has settled down fine?"

"Oh, just peachy. There was some fuss at first, but Genichirou and I put a halt to that. Genichirou's with him right now." There was a hidden meaning laced in those words and Atobe frowned. While he had not forbidden either guard to sleep with Kunimitsu he had not exactly given permission either. Ah well, to late to stipulate now.

"I'm guessing this was all a precautionary measure to keep the others away from him?" Atobe asked sarcastically but Fuji's face was strangely solemn. Not with his eyes opened but definitely serious.

"I'm not the one who placed him in a concubine's room, Atobe-sama." Fuji stated and then gave a swift proper bow. "I'll be getting back to my duties." Then, before Atobe could say anything else, Fuji had slipped back outside the door, no doubt taking up a position he would keep till morning. Atobe settled down to sleep with an amused smile on his face; he could trust Fuji to keep them safe. Not always unharmed, but safe.

As he drifted off to sleep, Atobe was unaware that Ryoma had woken up at Fuji's entrance and was now glaring angrily at the door.

---

'He raped Tezuka!' Ryoma thought as he glared at the man who stood on Atobe's side as they ate breakfast. Ryoma was never going to forgive that, and there was no way his bodyguard would have acquiesced to their demands. So it had to be rape. Ryoma picked at his food as he glared at the two men standing next to Atobe, both of who seemed oblivious to his ill intent. Atobe, too, was ignoring him and focusing on his food and several papers of interest. Occasionally he would sign one and move it to the bottom of the pack before going back to idly reading and eating.

Tezuka sat to the side of the table and was picking at his food. Ryoma doubted he was eating much of it, despite the look of his plate. Ryoma had spent years a sulky child picking at his food, he knew what it looked like.

--

Fuji was trying rather hard not to start grinning. Just the little smile was surely enough to convey his amusement. Still the glaring chibi at the foot of the table and the sulky Kunimitsu to the side put up a front of being sullen and silent. It was far too cute for so early in the morning. He knew that Atobe was also trying to ignore just how cute both of his companions looked, though whether Genichirou had noticed was debatable, what with the massive amounts of cute the poor bodyguard had to put up with when dealing with his team of misfits. Which reminded him; they should be coming in soon enough . . .

There was a knock on the door, which swung open to admit one of Atobe's servants and two others. One of them was a rather tangle haired young man while the other wore his hair flattened with reflective glasses. Fuji hid a smirk, seeing how their guests dealt with the Gentleman and the Elf.

"Sanada-buchou, we're here to relieve . . . eeeeh? It's Atobe-kun!" Kirihara started excitedly and bounced over to where Kunimitsu was now shrinking back into his chair. "You came back! Where have you been? We never got to have out match anyway." Kirihara frowned suddenly and was about to reach out a hand when Sanada pointedly cleared his throat. Kirihara shot him a guilty look and then went back to standing at Yagyuu's side.

"We're here to take over for you two. It's our shift today." Yagyuu stated blandly. Fuji's smile twitched slightly. Oh, no doubt today was going to be fun for someone. Atobe sighed slightly and hung his head. Fuji smirked and left the room to get some well-deserved rest. Sanada gave Yagyuu and Kirihara a brief rundown of what they would be doing today, and in Kirihara's case a rundown of what they would not be doing today, in a low voice that Ryoma could not pick up. Then even the stoic man left the room.

"Yagyuu, I'll be spending most of the day in the office." Atobe said as he stood and headed for his study, which was a room just left of the sitting room. "Kirihara, stay here and entertain yourself." Kirihara pouted slightly at not being trusted to watch Atobe do paperwork, but brightened immediately when he realized; he didn't have to watch Atobe do paperwork! Plus he got to bug Atobe-kun, and as anyone will attest to there was nothing more amusing then that.

Atobe-kun had left the table and moved to one of the couches in the sitting area. He seemed to be limping slightly and Kirihara frowned. Was that what Sanada meant when he said Atobe-kun was injured? The kid at the end of the table was now shooting him angry looks, and Kirihara did his best to look innocent. Really it was not his fault if he was suspected of all sorts of wrong doings at first glance; maybe it was the ears . . .

--

Ryoma was glaring at the grinning young man. Everyone on this ship was evil, so by default so was he, and the other seemed to be perfectly happy in this state of evilness. Ryoma chomped down rather viciously on a piece of sausage as he finished up his breakfast. Tezuka's plate was still rather full and Ryoma gave a glance between it and his bodyguard. Well, if the other did not eat at luncheon, then he would bring it up. Ryoma gingerly took a seat at one of the other couches and sulked slightly. His behind still hurt slightly from the activities last night. How could Tezuka move so freely? Surely he hurt more, since it had been non-consensual.

The Evil teen plopped himself down onto the couch with Tezuka, who had a slightly put-upon expression on his face. "Where have you been Atobe-kun? Why'd Sanada-buchou say you were injured? And who's the shrimp?"

"I've been away, because I fought and lost to Fuji two nights ago, and that's Echizen Ryoma." Tezuka answered it all at once, and sighed slightly before blinking. Ryoma watched the sudden realization spring up on his bodyguard's face and wondered what that was all about. "Why are you referring to Sanada as buchou? What happened to Yukimura-kun?" He asked with worry evident. Ryoma wondered who this Yukimura was, and why Tezuka seemed so worried about him. Tezuka had not even asked how Ryoma was dealing with last night, though maybe that was because he did not want to do that in front of other people.

"Eh? You didn't know. You really have been out of the loop Atobe-kun. And how'd Fuji-senpai injure you? You always managed to beat him off in a fight before." Kirihara was a little more worried now about Atobe-kun's injury. There was no good reason for Fuji-senpai to have injured him in a fight; even in a serious one, Tezuka should have been able to fend him off. Maybe it had something to do with the weakness in his left arm Kirihara had seen before? If so, what had happened? "Yukimura-buchou got really, really sick a year ago. He has not been able to recover and fulfill his roll as buchou, so Atobe-sama gave it to Sanada-buchou." Kirihara watched Atobe-kun's face as it changed. Sure it was hard to read the other's stony expression, but Kirihara had grown up with the other boy, and had also grown up with Sanada; both of them displayed all their emotion in their eyes and the corner of their mouths, so if you knew what to look for you could find it.

Right now, the other was feeling mildly guilty. Kirihara tried to redirect the flow of conversation. "So, why are you here?" He asked the kid who was vacillating between glaring at him and sulking at Atobe-kun. The other was . . . Echizen? Echizen looked mildly surprised that he was talking to him, but that quickly morphed into a sarcastic semi-sneer.

"I am here to bear 'Atobe-sama's' child." Kirihara's jaw dropped. Bear Atobe's kid! This skinny munchkin was going to do that? No way!

"You have to be kidding me." Kirihara stated before bursting out laughing. This guy was like nothing Atobe had ever brought to bed before, male or female. And he was going to bear Atobe's child? Did the kid even know what that would mean?

"What's so funny about it? I assure you I don't find it amusing." The Echizen twerp stated while glaring at him. Kirihara managed to contain his laughter and instead sent an amused glance Atobe-kun's way. The older boy was however rather resolutely looking away. Kirihara frowned at this new non combative nature of one of the best swordsman in the kingdom but shrugged it off. Maybe he was not feeling well. Atobe-kun never had done too well at sea.

"Okay, you wanna know why I find it funny? C'mon let's go visit the library." Kirihara stood and headed for the door. Looking back, he noticed that Echizen and Atobe-kun had stood but neither had moved forward. Atobe-kun seemed to be waiting for Echizen to move first. Another piece for the puzzle. "Well? C'mon!" As they left the room and started walking in Atobe's luxurious hallways, Kirihara heard Echizen whisper to Atobe-kun.

"What's up with this ship?"

"It's Atobe Keigo's personal pleasure vessel. It's outfitted specifically for his tastes and personality." Atobe-kun answered back in a rather droll voice. Up ahead of them Kirihara smirked. Well, it was the same biting wit at least.

--

Two hours later, Ryoma placed another rather heavy book down on the table in front of him and looked around in a fit of desperation. Ever since Kirihara had handed him the first book, the blood had slowly started draining from his face, and now Ryoma hardly doubted his skin was anything more then transparent.

In order for the kid to be legit, and there would be no point to this if the kid wasn't legitimate, Ryoma would be legally married to Atobe as soon as he conceived. His own lands and holdings would still be retained in his name, but he would have to live with Atobe and take up the duties of a wife. The child would inherit both Atobe's and Ryoma's land. In short, it rather seemed a little like a hostile take over. It was mildly disturbing how well thought out it was.

Of course, Ryoma was also vastly disturbed by just what he was going to have to do in order to give birth to the kid. That.. It... the kid... ICK! Across from him, Tezuka was idly looking through one of the books and frowning slightly, though about what Ryoma didn't know. Tezuka grew up with this sort of stuff right? Shouldn't he know all about it?

"See kid? Entertaining process isn't it?" Kirihara stated with a slightly malicious twinkle to his eye. Ryoma gave him a distinctly unfriendly look. "And to think you'll have all of that to look forward to."

--

That night, Ryoma barely responded to Atobe at all. The other frowned in dissatisfaction and as he practically dragged him into the bedroom, decided that he would see if he could coax some responses out with sex. The game would be no fun if the other folded their hand too quickly. "Don't touch me!" Ryoma twitched away from his hands and walked away to the far side of the bedroom, trying to distance himself from Atobe. Atobe grimaced, okay, so there was fight left in the other. Though as Atobe stepped closer, Ryoma snarled and dropped into a fighting stance. "Don't come any closer, you bloody conniving bastard." Atobe backed off slightly, as much as he could fight, he tried not to, unless it was a civilized affair, a duel with set rules and swords.

"Now what is up with you? You seemed to enjoy my attentions last night." Atobe stated calmly. Ryoma flushed but kept his stance

"That was before I found out that you weren't just raping me to get me pregnant, but also to steal my country." Atobe was perplexed. What? "The kid, Atobe-_sama_, your kid gets my family's land." The silver-haired man sighed and sat down on the bed. Was that what this was all about? A little dispute about land?

"The child will be as much yours as mine." Atobe started out calmly. "In fact, possibly more so, since you will be more in charge of raising and educating it then I will." Ryoma relaxed his posture slightly at this, but not completely. "And if you want, I guess you can claim someone else to inherit your land holdings." At this, Ryoma relaxed completely, and Atobe sighed, sprawling gracefully across the bed. "You know, I think I'm too tired for sex tonight. We'll just have to try again later."

'Sheesh,' Atobe thought to himself as the kid unconsciously snuggled in his sleep. 'This kid might be harder to seduce then Kunimitsu'. Not that Atobe wasn't up to the challenge, of course.

--

Tezuka tossed in his sleep as a nightmare overtook him. It was a nightmare of that night. The night that everything changed and fell apart and his world would never be the same again. Bolting up out of the sheets, Tezuka sat straight up in bed and breathed harshly. Beside him Fuji stirred, his companion for the evening. Not his rapist, as Ryoma no doubt believed, since Fuji and Sanada had decided against forcing him into sex. They had apparently decided to wait until the time was right before they bedded him. They were, however, ordered by Atobe that one of them had to be with him at all times, hence sleeping with Syuusuke tonight.

As his breath began to slow down, Fuji started his questioning about the nightmare. Tezuka could not take it, not tonight, not ever, no questions. He did not want to remember the dream and if he waited then he would remember. He refused to remember, and so he used the only thing that had ever driven the dream away.

Turning to Syuusuke, Tezuka kissed him breathless.

Fuji was of course, not one to question his good fortune.

--

Three weeks later, Ryoma had reluctantly given into Atobe's attempts at wooing. Really, the other was not that bad. Atobe had taken him up on deck and given him a tour of the cruise ship. While the way it was decorated still made him twitch occasionally, Ryoma could deal. Atobe had even made sure that Ryoma had suitable, to Ryoma not Atobe, clothes available to him. He had even extended the off to Tezuka, who had seemed oddly grateful all things considered. Ryoma had found he even enjoyed the touches and light kisses that Atobe would bestow on him. Atobe kept him entertained, and showed Ryoma more affection then the other had been given his entire life.

Atobe took Ryoma out on 'dates', which considering they were confined to one ship always managed to be both extravagant and exclusive. Atobe did not go past a kiss unless Ryoma responded to it and even then took the love making slowly. He was always extra careful about paying attention to his partner's needs. To Atobe, this was a new concept, taking care of someone else before himself. In fact, it was oddly refreshing. While he still liked to get his fair share of attention, especially from Ryoma or Kunimitsu, it was a nice change of pace.

What of course won Atobe most of Ryoma's favor was the disclosure that Tezuka was not sleeping with Sanada or Fuji, they were merely keeping a guard on him at night. Ryoma supposed that was a good thing, but reconsidered when he spotted the circles beginning to form under Tezuka's eyes. Were the other two men keeping him up at night somehow?

It wasn't until Fuji showed up without Tezuka and announced rather cheerfully that the other could not attend breakfast because he was dealing with morning sickness that Ryoma figured it out. "You LIAR!" Ryoma shouted at Atobe as he sprung up from the table. "Fucking bastard liar!" Ryoma stomped away to the bedroom and slammed the door shut. Technically he knew that Atobe could follow him in here, but he doubted the other man would. He had been giving Ryoma space; even if that might all have been a lie too.

"Well, that could have gone better." Atobe commented drolly before looking at the smiling bodyguard. "So which one of you's the father?" Fuji maintained his smile, though Atobe suspected there was a slight tinge of danger added to his aura.

"Neither of us is too sure. He slept with both of us in his first week here, and since then hasn't slept with either of us at all." Fuji let the smile slip at this and gifted Atobe with an overly serious expression. "He seemed to be using us to escape a nightmare. I wonder what it was about."

"You should have asked." Atobe said blithely before he stood up and folded his napkin neatly. There would be no dealing with Ryoma until he had a bit of a sulk, so he suspected now would be the proper time to visit his cousin.

--

Tezuka glared idly at Genichirou as the other hovered, rather unhelpfully, over him. Tezuka was at the moment leaning back against the headboard, and feeling distinctly woozy. "Would you just stop that?" He finally snapped and Genichirou looked slightly abashed. There was a knock on the door and Tezuka groaned, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Perfect, no doubt Syuusuke had delivered the news to Atobe and Ryoma, and while his former charge was no doubt freaking, out his cousin had decided to pay him a visit. "Come in."

Atobe swept into the room like he owned the place, which, in all fairness, he did. Still, it annoyed Tezuka to no end. "I hear you're not feeling well, cousin." Tezuka groaned again and did not even glance Atobe's way.

"Screw off." Tezuka muttered slightly. "You know why I'm not feeling well, no need to pussyfoot around it. I know the symptoms." Tezuka had been in bouts of pain on and off for the past week and he knew it would only get worse. Because he was male, his hips needed to rearrange themselves even more then a female's, and in another few weeks, he would be almost completely bed-ridden as his body tried to make room for the baby. He had read into what was going to happen. That would wear off a little once his body had managed to find room for the baby to settle in, but during his third trimester it was completely possible for him to be confined to the bed again.

"Ah, so. Which one is the father do you figure?" Tezuka squinted open one eye at this. He wanted to watch their faces when he answered, maybe it would make him feel better.

"Might not be either of them." Ah, that did make him feel better. Genichirou's mouth had dropped open and his eyes widened in shock, while Syuusuke, after losing his smiling mask in surprise, now looked faintly murderous. Mmm, gave him all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings. Or maybe the nausea was fading.

"Excuse me?" Atobe questioned. His cousin was, had always been, and would always be, a prude. There was no way he could have slept with three people in such a short span of time. Unless whatever 'nightmare' Fuji had brought up was something that required desperate measures to drive away. Which was highly possible.

"I slept with the Jyousei's second-in-command three days before you kidnapped us." Tezuka closed his eye and smirked slightly, just a little quirk of the lips. "He was very flexible." There was a strangled sound and then someone stormed out of the room and slammed the door. From the heavy sound of the footsteps Tezuka assumed it was Sanada. Well, at least he would not have to deal with the hovering.

"I'll . . . go check on Ryoma." Atobe stated and he too left the room, his mind whirling around this new information. Of course telling his love that his bodyguard was just a really well hidden slut would probably not help his situation, but it was interesting information to know. Atobe stopped the first servant he passed and asked them to report to the bodyguard's rooms and tell them that he wanted Yanagi sent to Kunimitsu's rooms, and Jackal and Bunta sent to his own quarters.

Back in Tezuka's quarters, Fuji had now sat down on the edge of the bed, balancing himself delicately so he barely made an indent on the soft mattress. "Flexible?"

"Aa." Tezuka responded. "Pretty too, nice hair."

"Aa." Fuji considered his next words carefully. Depending on the answer, he might have to kill someone. "Was it because of the nightmare?" Tezuka lifted an eyebrow slightly at this, but did not deem it a question worthy of opening his eyes.

"Hn."

--

"Ryoma, open the door. I want to talk to you." Atobe said, knocking on the door to the bedroom. He knew he could open it and walk in if he wanted to, and was seriously considering it just to shut up Bunta's sniggering, but knew that Ryoma should be the one to open the door.

"Yadda." Atobe sighed.

"Ryoma, Tezuka slept with three people in the past four weeks. He slept with Sanada and Fuji of his own volition!" Inside the room Ryoma plugged his ears.

"I can't hear you!" Atobe knocked his head slightly against the door and sighed. Fine, he'd let his lover throw a fit. Hopefully he would realize how utterly childish it was.

"Fine Ryoma, I'll be in my study then."

--

Atobe did not come back to the bedroom for the rest of the day and Ryoma did not come out. Atobe slept in one of the many empty rooms he had on the cruiser, and steadfastly ignored his bodyguards. Sanada was still silently storming around the cruiser, though apparently some of his temper had been worked out on Kirihara, Niou, and Yagyuu in three separate duels. Unfortunately, those three would be incapacitated for the next few days while they recovered. Fuji himself was repressing the anger to very deep inside of him, and Atobe wondered just what Syuusuke's next fight would look like.

The next morning, upon Atobe's return to the room, (he kept spare clothes all over the cruiser so there had been no need to return before breakfast) it was to the sounds of Ryoma vomiting into a chamber pot.

"Stay away from me you kidnapping son of a horse thief!" Ryoma shouted out when Atobe had opened the door to the bedroom and stepped inside. Seeing the other boy sprawled out, Atobe wisely grabbed a female servant and told her to assist him. Atobe would not be touching the other until he looked less likely to bite. Nor was Atobe going near him until he had finished throwing up.

While one part of him idly considered the hell that a pregnant Ryoma and Tezuka was going to incur, another part thought that he could finally head back to his palace, while the other started jumping up and down in glee of being a father.

And that was when he fully realized that Ryoma was pregnant.

And he fainted.


	2. Chapter 2

Kitti: In no way, shape or form do I own PoT or these pretty, shiny, sparkly boys. I own a few doujins and some english trans of the PoT manga.

Fuji: And a bondage rack. That she locks us to.  
Kitti: Hush.

---

Atobe stepped off of the pleasure cruiser to the cheers of a pre-arranged audience. He waved at the crowd; his public smile on as he greeted his well-wishers. He had sent a message to his father by messenger bird and the older man had obviously decided not to keep his arrival a 'quiet affair' like he had stipulated. Behind him, Atobe knew that Ryoma was glaring for all he was worth, though Kunimitsu no doubt maintained his stoic facade. Syuusuke and Genichirou were in front of Atobe; clearing his way while the rest of the bodyguards were behind, ready to spread out into formation the minute they stepped onto land. As soon as everyone was back on solid footing the bodyguards surrounded their three charges and led them to a horse-drawn carriage. The door was opened by Fuji, who allowed Atobe to enter first, to be followed by Ryoma, Kunimitsu and then Fuji himself. Sanada rode up with the driver while the rest of the bodyguards were ranged around the carriage.

"Happy to be home Atobe-sama?" asked the advisor who had been waiting inside the carriage and Atobe offered her pleasant non-committal statements. "That's delightful Atobe-sama." She cut him off and turned to the sulking green-haired boy. "Echizen-sama?"

"Uis." Ryoma answered glaring straight at the woman who tsked.

"Lessons in manners and etiquette first then. We'll have to work on your posture, especially for when it starts to show. No doubt your education was horribly neglected in Seigaku, we'll have to send for private tutors then." And the woman made notations down on a scroll she had sitting on her lap, her list growing in proportion to the size of Echizen's eyes. "And Kunimitsu -kun, we will just have to see what parts of your education have been lost, along with assigning a healer for your wounded arm. Then your grandfather will no doubt wish to speak to you, and the guards will wonder when you do not return to your position. An official statement will have to be made about your missing period and of course your marriage to the father of your child."

Atobe coughed at this and the advisor turned to look at him. "Ah, I'm afraid my father may have forgot to mention that we do not know who the father of Kunimitsu's baby is." The advisor looked aghast and turned her eyes on the uncomfortable Kunimitsu.

"Do you at least have an idea?" She finally gasped out, her surprise at this scandal overpowered by her efficiency.

"Ah, Fuji, and Sanada." Tezuka would not bring up Kajimoto now; he was unimportant as anything but an impediment for Fuji and Sanada to face. He had been rather pleased with the way that both had reacted to his announcement, though the aftermath had not been pretty for anyone involved.

"Well then . . ." The advisor calmed herself down. That was not so bad, the Prince's head bodyguards . . . "You will just have to chose which one is better suited politically, we will of course have to discuss this with your grandfather before making alliances . . ." And so went the rest of their carriage ride.

--

Tezuka gritted his teeth slightly as they were escorted to a private audience with King Sakaki. He could hear the whispers from the servants already and every courtier who spotted him went instantly slack jawed. He knew he was going to have to endure though, especially since he was stuck here until the baby was born. And after that escape attempts with the baby were going to be difficult. Not to mention escaping with Ryoma and his child. When they finally entered the private audience chambers Tezuka found it difficult to stifle a small smile at Ryoma's expression. You would think that after living on Atobe's ship he would know what to expect but apparently not. Ryoma's face as he looked about at the ornate setting that was Sakaki's style was absolutely amusing.

"You're home." And there was the man of the hour himself, looking debonair with his usual royal suit. "I hope your trip was productive." The cold eyes of Atobe's father skimmed over both Ryoma and Tezuka. Ryoma shivered, Tezuka did not.

"I told you in my letter that Ryoma has already conceived as has Kunimitsu." Sakaki turned to a table by the side and picked up a heavy crystal carafe, pouring himself some alcohol into a large glass.

"You also informed me that Kunimitsu-kun does not know who the father is. Though I'm sure he and his grandfather can figure something out." Taking a sip of the strong smelling liquid, Sakaki held the stem between his fingers as he approached the group. Looking past Keigo, he headed for Ryoma, looking the young man over. "Well." he stated. "I expect you'll do." Ryoma bristled at the other's casual dismissal. Sakaki, however, was already walking away and laying his free hand on Keigo's shoulders. "You will have to change the guard arrangements, though I expect now that you are home you will be returning to using Shishido and the others?" At Atobe's nod the other gave a grim smile. "Good. Sanada and Fuji will room in Kunimitsu's suite until his husband is decided. Assign Kunimitsu's team to him again. Your lover, I assume will be protected by your own? We will finalize the marriage tomorrow." And with that they were dismissed.

--

Ryoma was again struck by the sheer amount of ornamentation of the rooms. Atobe's rooms now were even more garish then they had been on the ship, though if Ryoma had not already gotten himself used to it he would probably have been struck blind. There was an overwhelming opulence to the room that made Ryoma feel very small. "Do you like it?" Atobe asked as he closed the door behind him. He knew they would not be left alone for long as no doubt Shishido would be over to assign his guards shortly. Ryoma turned to look at Atobe but quickly covered up the lost look in his eyes with a glint of challenge.

"Ne, Monkey King, is this the best you have?" Atobe smirked at the smaller boy.

"I know it's leaps and bounds above what you're used to brat, but you could at least try to appreciate it." There was a knock at the door and Atobe steeled himself while he turned to open it. Behind him Ryoma was watching everything very carefully.

"ATOBE!" There was a hyper orange creature clinging to him now. "ATOBE ATOBE ATOBE!" Giving himself over the inevitable, and ultimately knowing there was no escaping Jiroh's clutches, Atobe just tried to stay upright.

"Yes Jiroh, Atobe's back." Came a droll voice from the doorway. Turning his head, Atobe ignored the still shouting Jiroh to shoot Oshitari a disappointed look. The blue haired man shrugged. "We couldn't wake him up till just outside your door, it really isn't my fault."

"No." Came a waspish voice from behind Oshitari and a smaller man with dark magenta hair pushed past the other boy, glaring at him when he did not move. "It's Shishido's for not telling us when you'd be back." The short boy shot a glare at a shadowy figure Ryoma couldn't see before turning his eyes on Ryoma. "So . . . is this the baby maker?"

Ryoma bristled under the other's dismissive tone. Oshitari placed a hand on the short man's shoulder and made a 'tsk' noise. "Now, Gakuto. Let's not be insulting to Atobe-sama's wife. He is the next Queen of Hyotei." Ryoma bristled even more at that. Next to him Atobe gave a sigh at the way things were turning out, but really he had not expected any better from them.

"Really?" Jiroh finally detached from Atobe and was now sticking his overly cheery face in Ryoma's personal space. "Queen? That's so cool! So you slept with Atobe-san? Was it fun? Was it your first time? Atobe's great with virgins, he made my first time so easy! Is it true that Kunimitsu-chan was your bodyguard? Are you a good sword fighter? I bet you are. What with Kunimitsu-chan training you." He was glaring rather fiercely at his unhelpful 'husband' who was laughing along with everyone else. When Atobe finally managed to recover himself, it was obvious he was still vastly amused.

"Jiroh." The orange haired boy's head snapped up and around like a dog at his master's voice. "Ore-sama is afraid that Ryoma is not quite used to your type of affection. Ryoma is also tired from his trip." Jiroh pouted before bounding over to Atobe again. "Shishido, get in here." Atobe ordered as Jiroh latched onto his arm and started cuddling it while shooting Atobe adoring eyes. Ryoma fought the urge to gag. It was nauseating, really.

A boy with a head full of scruffy brown spikes stepped into the room. "Yes, Atobe?" Shishido questioned, a taller boy with a cheerful face and white hair was just behind him.

"Were you so awed by Ore-sama's prowess that you forgot to tell Jiroh I was coming home?" Atobe said with a flip of his hair. Shishido scowled, though technically he had been scowling since he had stepped into the room.

"No. I just did not want to deal with his incessant fanboying, and the constant questions of 'Is he home yet?' 'How about now?'" Gakuto snickered and buried his face in the smirking Oshitari's chest.

"Of course that was the reason. It had nothing to do with you and Ohtori having sex every chance you got for the past week." Oshitari drawled. The tall boy, Ohtori, blushed crimson and Shishido himself had a small tinge of it on his cheeks.

"Aahhhn?" Atobe questioned with a leer. "Has our favorite Angst Queen finally loosened up a little?" Atobe winked at the fiercely blushing Ohtori. "Or is he still as tight as ever?" Shishido cleared his throat as his blush darkened.

"Do you want to assign them their duties or not?" He snapped and Atobe held up his hands in surrender, though a smirk lingered on his lips. "Oshitari and Gakuto on night duty, Ohtori and I will take over in the morning, followed by Taki and Hiroshi. Kabaji returns from his mission tomorrow morning, so he'll be back at your beck and call. Jiroh . . ." They all looked at the yawning boy. "We'll plop him in a chair somewhere." Everyone nodded then and Atobe pulled the limpet off of his arm to have him pass out in an armchair.

"So." Gakuto stated and grinned at Atobe. "Gonna tell us about your trip?"

--

Tezuka had to hold back a sigh as he entered his old quarters. Which were, surprisingly, similar to how he had left them. Or more accurately, were exactly like they had been when he had arrived in his rooms in the first place. Tezuka, at age ten, had taken his ailing grandfather's place in Sakaki's court while his grandfather left for their country house to recuperate. His grandfather, upon recovering some of his strength had discovered that Tezuka had a knack for politics. The young boy seemed to fit into Sakaki's court in a way that Kuniharu never had. So after coming back for a few months, Tezuka's grandfather had handed over his post at the royal court to Tezuka and left. His grandfather had long ago gotten rid of most of the excess paraphernalia in the suite.

"Saa, looks like Sakaki-heika _did_ keep it like it used to be." Fuji drawled as he looked around the room. "What rooms do you want us to take, Kunimitsu?" Tezuka opened his mouth to tell Fuji and Sanada what rooms they could claim, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was a polite knock, as far as knocks went, but it filled Tezuka with dread. Tezuka knew that behind the polite knocker was a large multitude of impolite people. He knew that the minute that door was opened he was doomed.

"It's open." Sanada said gruffly after Tezuka just stared the door in mild horror. The door opened slightly to admit Oishi Syuichiro and was then pushed all the way open as the rest of the bodyguards piled in.

"Buchou!" Momoshiro cried out happily from where he was slightly smashed between Taka-san and Eiji-senpai. Eiji made a noise and tried to squirm away.

"Geez Momo-chan! Have you put on weight?" He complained loudly when he finally escaped. Then the redhead turned a dazzling smile on Tezuka. "Atobe-kun!" He cried out happily as he glomped onto the other. Tezuka winced slightly and staggered a little as he fought to stay steady and support the other's weight. "We missed you!" he stated happily.

"Eiji!" Oishi cried out when he saw the other cling to Tezuka. "Eiji, get off, that isn't healthy for Kunimitsu!" Eiji blinked as he slowly climbed down the other boy.

"Eh? Why not? He looks healthy to me." Eiji stated as he peered into Tezuka's face. Inwardly Tezuka cursed, he had been hoping to avoid this for a little while at least.

"Eiji. Kunimitsu's pregnant." Stunned silence met that announcement.

"What the hell!" Momoshiro burst out. "How'd Buchou get pregnant?" He looked enquiringly at the people around him, who all averted their eyes. Well, except Fuji and Sanada, but Momoshiro was too scared of them to stare for too long. Finally he turned his gaze on Kawamura, who blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"You see Momo, Atobe-kun's family line has the ability . . .." He trailed off. "Uh. It's a genetic thing . . ." Momoshiro just blinked at him.

"Fshuuuuu. Baka." came Kaidoh's voice from the shadows outside the door. He stood to the left and behind Inui, who also projected a helpful shadow for the diffident boy. Momoshiro turned to glare at him.

"Oh like you know anything about it!" He exclaimed and immediately the two set to bickering, which everyone else tuned out.

"Kunimitsu." came Inui's deep voice and Tezuka inwardly smacked his head against the wall. "Who is the father, if I may ask?" He was holding a pen over a small notebook that he constantly carried around. Tezuka glared at it momentarily before looking away.

"Not sure." He stated and listened to the room fall silent once more.

"You . . . don't know?" Oishi questioned, his heart close to exploding. He looked anxiously at Fuji and Sanada and realized that that was the reason they were both there. "How . . . Kunimitsu?" Oishi was unable to voice his thoughts but instead let the tone of disappointment tell all. Tezuka looked very pointedly away.

"I slept with more then one person." He stated bluntly.

"Yes. Me, and Gen." Fuji stated softly, not going to bring up whomever that . . .. other had been. Oishi was now looking with him with wide eyes, as was everyone else. Inwardly Fuji snorted, he bet they'd think Tezuka would top.

"A-ah." Oishi said turning a little red. "Well then." He coughed. "We should arrange the guards around all of this then."

--

It was Inui who confronted Fuji later, stepping into Fuji's room while Oishi fluttered about Tezuka. "The probabilities of Atobe-kun sleeping with you were at 3 when I calculated them last." He stated clinically. "The probabilities of you sleeping with him went down to 42.1 the last time I calculated them. And the probabilities of you cheating on Atobe-sama were 9.8." He stared at him, or at least Fuji had to assume it was staring. He couldn't really tell what was going on behind the glasses.

"Yes well . . . Atobe-sama did need to get married didn't he?" Fuji stated carelessly. "He really doesn't have much time for dalliances with me." Inui frowned at him harder, obviously displeased with his flippancy. Adjusting his glasses, Inui loomed over the smaller male.

"I had not added the possibility of Atobe-kun's reappearance into my calculations. If I had known then the probabilities of you cheating with Atobe-sama would have been raised by 10 and the probabilities of him sleeping with you would have decreased by 2."

Fuji quirked an eyebrow. "I'm so glad to see your data is as accurate as ever." He stated dryly. Inui grunted a little.

"You defy my data, Fuji."

--

Sanada grimaced as they were finally left in the dubious silence of Kaidoh and Inui. The data gatherer's glasses kept glinting at him oddly. He had a feeling that might have something to do with the talk Inui had with Fuji earlier, but he could not tell for sure. Fuji seemed slightly agitated and that made Sanada uneasy. Unpleasant things happened when Fuji was agitated. Mainly to him, though Sanada had heard horror stories of what Fuji had done to other people. Once Sanada had started working with Fuji, however, he seemed to have become one of Fuji's favorites to play with, probably because of his stoic facade. Though now that Kunimitsu was back, Fuji's interest in him might fade.

Sanada wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Sanada was surprised at how quickly the time went though; he could swear they had just arrived back when dinner was delivered to their door. The maids informed him that Sakaki-heika had felt that Atobe-kun was not quite ready to meet with the rest of the court yet and that he was probably tired after their trip. Sanada figured that meant that Sakaki had a plan for Kunimitsu's grand unveiling and that it wasn't quite ready yet. Bastard.

"Well, this is comfy." Fuji stated as they sat around the small table in the dining nook attached to the suite. The table was piled high with food and Sanada felt a mild pang as he thought of the waste. He himself had come from a lower class family; they had been samurai for generations but had fallen from favor in his great-grandfather's time. Under his own grandfather's tutelage Sanada had been taught the sword. He had become quite accomplished with it and caught the closest lord, Lord Yukimura's, eye. Lord Yukimura had taken Sanada under his wing and soon Sanada had found himself among the Royal Guards as Yukimura's vice-captain. From there he progressed upward, winning prestige as one of the best swordsman in the court. Or at least, the conclusion was that he was the best. There were people he had yet to face off against, like Kunimitsu, and Fuji. Sakaki had halted his last duel with Atobe just as it had been getting interesting.

With Kunimitsu's injury though Sanada doubted he would ever face the other with any sort of challenge involved.

"Gen." Fuji called his attention back to the table and Sanada realized that both of his dinner companions were staring at him. "Would you pass the rolls?" Sanada nodded shortly, passing the rolls to Fuji before setting down to eat himself.

--

Ryoma turned on his side away from Atobe as the other's breathing deepened into sleep. He stared into the darkness of the room before closing his eyes in disgust. This entire situation was beyond bizarre. He had been kidnapped, and then found out that he was apparently able to bear children, which was quickly followed by his seduction. It pissed Ryoma off how easily his seduction had come to Atobe. The other just had to act gentlemanly for a short period of time and Ryoma had fallen into his arms. Ryoma was not even sure he could pass it off as merely physical lust, because while that had been a definite factor of it all, it had not been the driving factor behind him crawling back into bed with Atobe.

Now that he thought about it, Ryoma realized that Atobe's seduction of him was pretty pointless. Atobe could have just kept forcing himself on Ryoma until Ryoma had given in. Ryoma had just had his first taste of sex; he was more then a little confused about all the new sensations. Sure he knew lust, he had Echizen Nanjiroh as his father, but Ryoma had never experienced the rush of orgasm like he had in Atobe's arms. Perhaps it was simply the difference between it being just his hand and being with an actual person.

Maybe it was something more, something that Ryoma found so horrible he didn't want to consider it.

Because there was no way in hell Ryoma had actually liked Atobe.

Feeling arms pull him back against a warm chest, Ryoma listened to Atobe sleepily mumble as he curled around him. Ryoma fell asleep to the sound of Atobe's heartbeat.

--

Atobe straightened the sash that lay across his shoulders, fluffing the ruffles on his dress uniform as he prepared for court the next morning. Ryoma scowled as this servant and that fussed over the arrangement of this piece of cloth or the lay of that string. All in all, Atobe though his 'wife' looked rather smashing all outlined in gold and black trim, with a slight green mixed in there. He glowed with something indescribable and Atobe was hard pressed to keep himself from at least kissing the boy. It just was not fair if he was going to look so good all the time.

Nodding at Ohtori as he stepped out of the room, Atobe looked over at Shishido, who was closely shadowing Ryoma. They walked through the halls with long strides, though not too long. While Ohtori and Atobe could easily had stretched their legs farther, Shishido always got so snippy when he had to practically jog to keep up and Atobe had no delusions about just how pissy Ryoma would get if such an event occurred.

Entering the court, Atobe was met with a fanfare from the bugle corps; he waited at the entrance to the royal hall, Ryoma at his side. Holding out his hand, he watched as Ryoma's scowl deepened before he placed his arm on top, and they walked down the long strip of red carpet towards where Sakaki sat. The courtiers cheered loudly at the return of their prince before settling down to hushed whispers. Standing at the bottom of the dais where Sakaki sat upon his throne, Atobe bowed his head. Ryoma did the same, though there were some giggles behind him about how he should curtsey instead. Ryoma could not care less apparently.

As Atobe took his seat to Sakaki's right, he gestured that Ryoma should take his seat in the slightly smaller throne right next to him. Ryoma did without a change of expression and Sakaki gestured for court to begin.

Court was just as long and boring as Atobe remembered it. As it came to a close, Sakaki stood to make a royal announcement.

"As many of you already know, my son Keigo has recently returned from a trip to find himself a suitable bride. He has gained the only heir to the Echizen line as his spouse, a match I have approved of. You may also have heard that on Keigo's trip, he returned with his cousin Kunimitsu, who has been missing for years." The whispers got slightly louder before quieting under Sakaki's glare. "This is true, as is the rumor that Kunimitsu is pregnant. Details will be revealed at a later date." Sakaki then swept out of the room, proclaiming court for the day at an end.

Atobe held out his arm again to Ryoma, who took it with a scowl as Atobe escorted him out. "You still have classes to attend to today." Atobe told Ryoma calmly. Ryoma sent him a glare but stayed silent. "I believe the first one is manners." Atobe said pointedly and this time earned himself a disgusted look.

Biting back a sigh, Atobe dropped Ryoma off with his new tutors and then set out to take care of some unfinished business.

--

Sanada watched in amusement as Oishi cared for Kunimitsu, or rather, as he was practically smothered by the boy's caring. Oishi refused to let Kunimitsu stand to do anything, and the minute the other shifted on his seat, Oishi would be there, asking if he needed to lie down, or an extra pillow or if he wanted tea? Kunimitsu had finally snapped that he did not need anything besides the accounts of the last couple of years so he could catch up on events in the kingdom. Oishi had quickly fetched them while his partner Eiji had badly hid snickers behind his hand. Sanada found this amusing because he knew that if it came down to it he could defend Atobe-kun, though if he had not been in the room Sanada would not have been amused by it.

Fuji had been gone from his rooms early that morning, slipping out the door just as Sanada awakened. Kunimitsu had woken slightly afterwards, his shoulder paining him badly enough that Sanada had been forced to send for a physician to come look him over. The physician had changed the bandages and pressed a fresh compress of various herbs to it. Then he had instructed Tezuka not to jar the arm before leaving. Unfortunately that last bit had been said just as Oishi entered the room and the black haired man had then spent a good deal of time fretting about Tezuka.

There was a polite knock at the door before it swung open to admit a stately bearded older man. "Kunimitsu." he greeted solemnly, the maids closing the door behind him. Atobe-kun sat up straightened immediately and Sanada himself straightened slightly, if that was even possible, under the older man's gaze.

"Grandfather." Kunimitsu greeted with a bow of his head. His grandfather stepped farther into the room, his eyes pinning Sanada to the ground.

"Is this the young man?" He questioned.

"One of them." Kunimitsu answered but his grandfather shook his head.

"The other is not here, this one is it." Sanada's eyes widened slightly at that decision.

--

Fuji lounged in the gardens, sitting on a bench beneath the cherry blossoms. He had not picked this spot because he enjoyed cherry blossoms much, he actually found their scent quite cloying, and instead it had been picked for the view. The seat by the cherry blossoms was located next to a wall that looked over the courtyard for the representatives from St. Rudolph's university. Fuji lounged half over the wall, his eyes following one person below. Yuuta was dressed in the plain brown and white of the other teachers. Fuji followed him as Yuuta discussed several things with other similarly dressed males. One male in particular that made Fuji grit his teeth He had hoped that Yuuta's dependence upon that Mizuki character would have waned over the time he had been gone. Apparently he had been wrong.

"Syuusuke." A voice called him. Fuji did not bother to turn.

"Shouldn't you be attending your bride?" Fuji asked Atobe as the other approached where he was keeping an eye on Mizuki and Yuuta's interaction. Atobe sat beside him on the bench under the cherry trees.

"Ryoma has tutoring in matters like etiquette, all frightfully boring stuff that I myself have no need to learn over." Atobe stated arrogantly, wondering just what it would take to drag Fuji's attention away from his brother. It was a well-known fact that the elder Fuji was mildly obsessed about his brother's welfare. "Yuuta looks well." He commented idly as he glanced down at the University staff. Fuji sighed before turning on the bench to face him.

"Saa, Keigo, are you bored?" Fuji asked pointedly from behind his usual smile. He was fuming inwardly, angry that his private time had been interrupted.

"I just thought I would spend time with you, Syuusuke, is there something wrong with that?" Atobe asked, carelessly brushing a few sakura petals off of his shoulders. Fuji's eyes flickered open for a second before closing.

"Atobe-sama, I would hate to seem disrespectful but there is no reason for you to spend time with me. You have a wife, and no doubt filial duties to fulfill. The paperwork and such that no doubt needs your signature is most probably piling up in your study, while numerous courtiers line up to praise you and plead with you." Atobe smirked.

"None of them are you Syuusuke." He leaned in to plant a kiss on Fuji's lips. The other turned his head so that the kiss landed on his cheek instead.

"Don't." Fuji warned, but Atobe ignored him to pull the slighter boy against him for a real kiss. The scent of the cherry blossoms as they were later crushed under their bodies was cloying indeed.

--

Tezuka looked up as he was lead by Sanada into the main dining hall. Atobe sat on Sakaki's right and Ryoma sat on his right. To Sakaki's left was Tezuka's grandfather and the two seats next to him were empty. Fuji was seated in his usual spot among the other royals. The smile on his face never wavered. Sitting down Tezuka was unsurprised to hear a hush fall over the table as Sanada sat next to him before hurried chattering overpowered it.

Tezuka steeled himself as he prepared for the spectacle that would be supper.

--

Ryoma grimaced as the desert was carted in, accompanied by dancing girls and jugglers. Not even on their larger feast days had he ever seen such extravagance in the Echizen castle. It was unnerving. As the courses finished up though he noticed the tenseness that began to fill the air. He had no doubt it was about the announcement of Tezuka's 'husband' though it was quite obvious who that would be. They had not even bothered to seat Fuji at the head table. Idly Ryoma allowed himself a 'serves him right', Fuji had been the one to injure Tezuka after all.

When the old bearded guy stood up the table instantly went quiet and Ryoma found himself perched on the edge of his seat.

"As many of you know my grandson has returned from several years of being absent from our court. He has taken a husband in Sanada Genichirou and is pregnant with his child as we speak." And then the old man sat down. Complete silence fell over the table and more then one person turned their head to look at Fuji. They had heard about the other sleeping in Kunimitsu's suite the night before. Fuji just smiled blandly before reaching for his wine glass.

"A toast to the happy couple." He wished. "And for our Atobe-sama and his lovely bride." Fuji wished before knocking the alcohol back and standing to leave the table.

Ryoma felt like someone had just slapped him . . . but he wasn't sure why.

--

Sanada lay propped up on his side in Tezuka's bed. Idly, he watched as the other slept. His mind went to the many things he would have to take care of tomorrow, the first being that he would need to visit Yukimura and inform him of recent events. Next would be to settle his affairs and set up the official documents of their marriage. There was a long list of many things Sanada would have to do, among which were practicing and figuring out just what he was going to do with the guards under his command. He could not act as a royal bodyguard while he was staying with Tezuka through this whole thing, and his company very rarely had more then a few days of rest before being ordered out.

He could, of course, turn over the troupe to someone else in the group, most logically to Yanagi. Sanada found himself loathe to do that though, but he could not explain why. Lying back onto the bed, Sanada sighed and closed his eyes. Things would work out, he would make them.

--

Ryoma gritted his teeth as yet another tutor corrected his posture. Again. He was sitting up straight, but apparently not straight enough to please the harpies. He also drank his tea incorrectly, held his silverware in an improper grip, had his shoulders too visibly tensed, scowled too much, spoke with a common accent, and twitched his left foot when irritated. All in all, his left foot was twitching nearly constantly as he sat there listening to them. His tutors in reading and history loved him, though his handwriting instructor was appalled by the state of his script. Ryoma could not believe how much he hated the lessons already.

It almost made the nights curled up in Atobe's arms look enjoyable. Because he had not been enjoying them at all on his own. Of course not. The door to the library opened to admit a familiar smiling brunet who paused when he noticed the goings on. "Saa, I was unaware that the library was occupied." Fuji drawled as he saw Ryoma sitting with a tea set in front of him on one of the tables in the library. Sprawled on the table were a few scrolls with various rules of etiquette.

"Fuji-sama!" The tutor cried. "Please help here!" Fuji looked tempted to leave but walked over to the table instead and looked over Ryoma's hold on his teacup.

"Flip your pinky." He stated and Ryoma scowled before doing so, changing the entire grip slightly. His tutor sighed and nearly applauded.

"Thank you Fuji-sama!" She was nearly in tears too; the tutor grabbed onto Fuji's arm and pulled him over, shamelessly rubbing herself against him. Ryoma's face twisted and he swore for a minutes the smiling boy nearly grimaced. It was disgusting. "I've been trying to get him to do that for hours!" She said breathlessly.

"Maybe you should focus on your tutoring then, Mayuri-san." Fuji stated diffidently and pulled away. "I'm just here for a book." Fuji turned away and went to scan the shelves. Mayuri pouted and Ryoma scowled. Really, what a whore.

"But Fuji-sama! You helped so much with a few words! I need help on tutoring Atobe-sama's wife!" Fuji twitched and turned to level her with a gentle smile and a malevolent aura.

"If you need my help Mayuri-san, you must be in desperate straights. My manners are horrid." And then he strode for the door. "Maybe you should reconsider your position." The door slammed hard enough to cause a few books to fall from their shelves. Ryoma's whore of a tutor sat back in her chair with a pout.

"I doubt that was a lesson in decorum." Ryoma said with a smirk and found himself the bearer of his tutor's ire before she gave a delicate sniff and turned her head away.

'Ha.' Ryoma thought to himself. 'One point for me.'

--

Atobe glared down at the letter he had in his hand. It had been delivered to his study earlier that evening and Atobe was very, very unhappy with it. "Fuji-kun wishes to leave?" Sakaki asked as he stood perched on the mantle. Atobe's glare hardened and he had to force his hand to stop from clenching into a fist. Sakaki glanced at him dispassionately, a slight reproof in his father's eyes over his emotional state.

"Ah." He grumbled. "He says that he hasn't had a break in over four years and that he misses Chiba." He knew that the phrasing of the letter was deliberate. Fuji was telling them that he had no reason to stay beside his loyalty and even that was running thin. Not only that, he had brought up his tenure as a royal guardsman, and had been fighting with the best of the best since he turned ten. He had served under various captains and done solo work with a few short breaks between them. Fuji had not gone on a long vacation since his brother had started attending the university.

If Fuji wished he could resign his position on the royal guards, he was not even needed to represent Chiba at court, both his elder sister or younger brother could cover the position until someone else could be sent. Lord Kisarazu Ryou would probably look forward to coming to the capital so that he could visit with his brother.

Atobe also had very little doubts about Lord Saeki's attentions towards Fuji.

"If you want him to stay, make sure he cannot leave." Sakaki stated before heading for the study door. Atobe growled at his father's arrogant and unhelpful attitude. It was not till he was half-dozing that night with Ryoma in his arms that the idea came to him. Ryoma had taken to talking about his day when he thought Atobe was asleep and Atobe was not about to disabuse him of this notion. Ryoma's fingers would trace lazy patterns on his chest.

"The smiling bastard stepped in to the library while I was being tutored." Ryoma muttered. "My tutor's a whore, I don't know why you hired her. The bastard taught me more with three words then she's managed all day." It was at that point that Atobe began to form his plan; it was hard to pretend to be asleep while his mind was buzzing with possibilities. Keeping the smirk off his face was even harder.

This was going to amuse the hell out of him, and quite possibly get someone killed.

He was going to make Fuji Ryoma's head tutor.

--

Fuji stormed into the court, angrily bypassing the guards and the chamberlain. He stormed past the petitioners, shooting everyone an open-eyed ice-cold glare that stopped everyone in their tracks. Even the gossips of the court froze silent in fear as they watched him approach the royal family. Oshitari appeared from the shadows to stand before the royals while one of Sakaki's guards appeared to stand in front of him.

"What," He growled shaking the parchment he held in one hand, the royal seal bright and obvious "is _this_!"

Sakaki was giving Fuji a look that obviously revealed how infantile he felt this was. Not even he was immune to Fuji's evil stare though, so he kept silent. Atobe looked at Fuji before examining his nails. "A royal decree. What does it look like?" Fuji's glare went up a notch.

"It looks like you assigning me nanny work." He snarled. Atobe smirked slightly and gestured at Ryoma who stiffened as Fuji's eyes locked on him next.

"Do you consider my spouse such a low priority?" Fuji stiffened and switched his glare back to Atobe. He visibly ground his teeth, unable to respond to that without falling into a trap. Insulting Ryoma would be a very bad thing, but otherwise . . .

"Fine." Fuji growled out. "I shall give your lovely _wife_ my best efforts in our tutoring sessions." then he turned around and stormed out of the court, his exit heralded by the slamming of the court doors and the whispers of the gossips.

Ryoma turned to glare at Atobe. "My tutor!" He hissed and Atobe smirked.

"I got complaints about Mayuri-san's ineptitude." Ryoma glared a little more before huffing and sitting back on his seat.

"Fine. Whatever. Don't ask my opinion on these things." He grumbled sourly. Inwardly he was pleased that the whore had been gotten rid of, but was not too sure of the bastard becoming his tutor in her stead. And where had the idea come from? Were his words penetrating Atobe's subconscious or something?

Atobe just kept smirking, allowing himself a mental pat on the back. Sure, someone was going to pay for it, but it wasn't him just yet.

--

Ryoma glared at the room in general. The tutors with him now were whispering between themselves about why Mayuri had been fired, shooting anxious looks his way occasionally. Ryoma wondered where the hell Fuji was. The door opened to admit Fuji and it was like a sudden wind had ripped through the room, silence fell so quickly. Fuji smiled pleasantly and shut the door behind him. "Now." He said softly in that near feminine voice of his. "What did Ryoma-sama have on his schedule today?" Ryoma watched as his tutors became whirlwinds of activity, pulling out books and pointing out what they had planned on teaching him, all talking at the same time to Fuji, who just smiled and let them chatter until silence fell again.

"And what," Fuji stated calmly, "about exercise?" The tutors stared at him stunned. Fuji shut one of the books that had been lying in front of him. "I understand what you are trying to do, but you are treating Ryoma-sama as a woman. Which, despite his condition, he is not. I suggest," Fuji opened his eyes to spear them all with a look. "You all leave. I will handle Ryoma-sama's lessons from now."

The tutors left faster then a plague of locusts came.

Fuji smiled at Ryoma and flipped the books closed. "You fence, correct?" Ryoma nodded sulkily and in a short period of time found himself escorted to the practice room where various partners were going at it on mats. Ryoma looked around stunned at the type of equipment Hyotei's fighters were given. The fighting stopped as Fuji and Ryoma entered the room though, silence settling like a scratchy blanket. "Saa." Fuji smiled and Ryoma twitched as he wondered if that smile only disappeared when he was angered. "You can all go back to your matches." Everyone hurriedly returned to what they were doing and Fuji stepped over to an empty mat, beginning to stretch and motioning for Ryoma to do the same.

Ryoma followed warily, stretching carefully on the mat. If Fuji could injure Tezuka, even if Tezuka was apparently not as good as he used to be, then Ryoma would have to be careful. The air in the room seemed to thicken as he stretched, the other fighters slowing in their matches as anticipation and curiosity stole over them.

Finishing his stretches Fuji headed to the wall and picked up two practice swords, tossing one to Ryoma and then readying his stance. "Begin."

--

When Sanada entered the practice rooms he had not expected to see too much activity, as it was early yet. What he had, however, expected to hear was more then just the dull thunk of one set of practice swords. That said, he was floored when he saw Ryoma and Fuji dueling. Fuji's eyes were open and Ryoma was holding his own. "Stop!" The voyeurs spun around to look at him guiltily before slinking away. Ryoma and Fuji however continued battling each other until Sanada came over and forcibly pulled the two apart. "I said stop." He glared, though it had no effect on either Ryoma or Fuji.

Fuji chuckled slightly, sliding into a close-eyed smile. "Saa Gen, we were just having a bit of fun. Right Ryoma?" And Ryoma smirked back at Fuji before nodding his head.

"Most fun I've had since I got pregnant." Sanada's eyes had gone wide as he stared at the two, one smirking and one smiling innocently and felt a migraine coming on. This had to be one of the worst ideas Atobe had ever had.

--

"That was the worst idea you have ever had!" Atobe looked up to blink questioningly at Shishido who was at the moment shouting at Gakuto. Gakuto looked at Shishido sullenly before crossing his arms and looking away. "Seriously! What the hell tempted you to challenge Kikumaru to that type of contest!" Atobe looked at his half open door with mild interest. Gakuto and Kikumaru always had an interesting relationship, or at least Atobe thought so. Definitely more volatile and fun to watch then Shishido and Ohtori's schmoopiness or Gakuto and Oshitari's sickly sweet romance. "Do you know how many complaints I've gotten from the castle staff about the noises coming from your rooms? And the destruction of everything from chairs to sheets to carpets?" Atobe turned back to his paperwork, Ohtori standing blushing in the corner of his study as Shishido chewed Gakuto out. There was a muffling of the noise and Atobe glanced up to spot Ryoma leaning against the now closed door.

"It's quieter in here." He grouched before curling up in one of Atobe's armchairs with a book on his lap. Atobe went back to reading the treaty between Hyotei and Fudomine. There was the definite sensation he was being watched but when he looked up Ryoma was staring pointedly at his book. Atobe went back to re-reading the treaty, noting idly that it would have to be reaffirmed this year until the feeling of being watched grew unbearable. When he looked up this time he caught Ryoma staring a bit before the other hurriedly went to staring at his book. Sighing Atobe put away the treaty and looked pointedly at Ryoma.

"Is there something you want?" He questioned carefully. Ryoma could be a little skittish sometimes.

"I spent the day with Fuji-san today." Ryoma stated and Atobe fought the urge to lift an eyebrow. Did he only refer to Fuji as 'that smiling bastard' when he thought no one was listening? Or was this sudden respect formed today. "We had a practice bout." Atobe's eyebrow did rise at this. Fuji and Ryoma? "He was good," Ryoma stated gruffly, "not as good as some, but good."

"I'm glad you approve." Atobe stated dryly. "However, I didn't assign Fuji as your tutor so you could try to kill each other." And now Ryoma was back to looking very sulky.

"Sanada-san stopped us." He stated. "And then Fuji-san took me back to the library for a history lesson." Atobe gave himself a silent pat on the back; Fuji no doubt had made the history lesson stick too. "I had no idea your great-great-grandmother was a whore."

On the other hand . . . maybe this hadn't been a good idea.

--

Sanada picked his way through the long lists of equipment that needed to be replaced or repaired, making notes to the side of what was not necessary and what would take time to replace. He had a large number of parchments spread over the desk in what he had claimed as 'his room' out of Kunimitsu's suite. While he usually slept in the same bed as Kunimitsu, now he used the bedroom he had originally stayed in to store his things and get some work done. Staring down at the list he had, Sanada scowled as he crossed off Marui's note of 'gum.' He refused to count that as a legitimate expense even if the boy wouldn't have nearly the same stamina without the sickly sweet substance. There was a sound from the other room, a heavy thump that had Sanada instantly out of his chair and in Kunimitsu's room where Momoshiro and Kawamura were now supporting Kunimitsu's weight.

Sanada watched as the two lifted the silent man up onto the bed and Tezuka's eyes closed shut in pain. "One of you get a doctor." He ordered, Kawamura leaving immediately at his orders. Sanada moved to Kunimitsu's side and felt his forehead.

"It's just the bones shifting." Kunimitsu forced out. "Just the bones . . ." His hands clenched into fists as he tried to control the pain. He had known it would be soon, and he had known it would be painful. His body was not a woman's and was even less suitable for this then Echizen's was. His hips would need to expand quite a bit in order to bear the child. He felt a cool hand on his brow and unable to move away allowed Sanada to pet him. It was calming . . ..

Sanada drew his hand away as he heard Kunimitsu's breathing deepen as the other slipped into sleep. He removed the other's spectacles and looked down at the sleep-relaxed face of his 'spouse'. They had not finalized the papers yet so they were married in word only. Still in Hyotei with Kunimitsu's condition, word alone was binding.

Sanada hated it. Sanada had been in love with Kunimitsu for what seemed like forever, though he knew his crush on Yukimura had existed for longer. The other boy had been strong though, and he and Kunimitsu had often tested their strengths against each other. Sometimes one would win, sometimes the other and before he knew it Sanada had developed a serious sized crush on the other boy that had evolved into something more. Sitting down beside him on the bed, Sanada could swear he actually heard the other's bones grinding together. When Kunimitsu had left them several years ago, after the unfortunate incident, Sanada had been left a little adrift. The other's magnetism had so pulled him in that when it was gone, Sanada had no idea what to return to. Yukimura had been there, but there was no way Sanada could give Yukimura the same feelings he had for Kunimitsu, especially with Yukimura beginning to fall ill. Yukimura's sickness meant that Sanada now was in charge of the Rikkai squad, and he could not let them down. With the loss of Kunimitsu, the Seigaku squad was one short as well and had solved that problem by sending over Fuji to him and then using the Seigaku team around the castle as guards for lesser nobles.

Fuji, who had loved Kunimitsu as much as Sanada had, if in a slightly different way, arrived at his door with a smile and a sword, forcing his way into Sanada's quiet life in a way Sanada had not anticipated. When Fuji and Kirihara had started teaming up, Sanada began to fear for the worst. When Niou joined in, Sanada beat them all senseless. Fuji always bounced back, was always ready for another round of his sadistic mischief.

When the Rikkai troupe had first been ordered to be Atobe's bodyguards they had agreed reluctantly. Though Atobe had his own bodyguards after all, trained by himself and under his charge, it had not taken long for the Rikkai troupe to realize that they were better then the Hyotei guards. Or at least excelled in different areas, though Marui and that Jiroh character had similar strengths and weaknesses.

Sanada had watched worriedly as Fuji found himself drawn into Atobe's aura. Sanada had been tempted himself and had nearly given in to the pull so similar to Kunimitsu's but he had reminded himself that Atobe was different. Not just in position, but also in personality and it had not taken long for the force-feeding of Atobe's obnoxious arrogance to kill any sort of magnetic draw. Still, when they had found Kunimitsu Sanada had wondered if Fuji would return to himself, the other having changed since his affair with Atobe, starting becoming more and more distant.

However, Fuji would have no chance with Kunimitsu and that upset Sanada deeply. What was the point with a rival if there was no way for the other to win the prize?

Running his fingers through Kunimitsu's hair, Sanada waited for the physician to appear.

--

Atobe looked up to see Sanada being admitted to his study. He turned back to his work, not bothering to put it down for the other man. He and Sanada had never really gotten along terribly well; Atobe suspected it had something to do with Kunimitsu. He accepted the other's attitude because he was an excellent bodyguard. Not to mention he usually acted like this with everyone, though Atobe did hate to be included as part of the majority . . ..

"Yes, Sanada?"

"Kunimitsu's bones have started to rearrange themselves. I thought you might like to know." Atobe looked up at Sanada questioningly, but the stoic man just kept staring straight ahead. That was interesting. Of course it meant that Ryoma would be experiencing the immense pain soon too. Realizing that the other seemed to have something else on his mind, Atobe bit back a sigh.

"Was there something else?"

"Is there a reason you allowed Fuji to become Ryoma-sama's tutor?" He asked. Atobe raised an eyebrow, and here he had thought that Sanada did not care about either boy. Apparently he was wrong.

"I believed that Fuji could teach Ryoma what he needed to know in a manner that would stick." Which was the truth, even if not the whole truth or even a quarter of the truth, really. Still, he was not lying so there was nothing Sanada could call him on.

"It had nothing to do with Fuji trying to leave the capital?" Okay . . . so maybe there was something Sanada could call him on. Atobe leaned his head on one hand as he looked at Sanada questioningly.

"Syuusuke's request to leave the guards was granted even if his request for leave to Chiba was not. Ryoma required a tutor that would not grate on his nerves." He stated coldly watching Sanada's reaction. Sanada gave a brief dip of his head before waiting to be dismissed. "You may go." Sanada turned and headed for the door. Idly, Atobe wondered if Sanada knew more then he thought he did.

--

Ryoma sat in Atobe's personal library waiting for his tutor to appear. They had moved the lessons from the public library upon Tezuka starting to feel the bones shift for his pregnancy. Atobe wanted Ryoma close to his rooms if he was affected by similar pains. Ryoma had only felt mild aches so far and did not see the point of worrying, but really what was the point of fighting Atobe's decisions? Especially since he really didn't mind. Ryoma swung his feet slightly as he waited for Fuji to show up.

Fuji strode though the halls. He was mildly late for his appointment with his 'student' because he had lost track of time while watching his brother. He had to find a new spot to do such a thing because his seat beneath the cherry blossoms was . . . no longer suitable for such a task. So his new hidey-hole took a little longer to get back to the main section of the Atobe household.

Turning a corner, Fuji found himself facing someone he had been hoping to avoid during his recent stay in the capital. He ducked his head slightly hoping to get past without him noticing him . . .

"Aniki."

--

Ryoma watched as his tutor sat listlessly in his seat while Ryoma read through another chapter of boring etiquette. Fuji was not even smiling anymore, just sitting there with this little frown on his face. Finally, sick of trying to make sense of yet another boring rule, Ryoma slammed the book shut and glared. Fuji's smile reappeared as he looked at Ryoma.

"Saa, Ryoma-sama, all finished?"

"It doesn't make sense." Ryoma stated and then pointed a finger at Fuji. "You don't make sense right now either!" Fuji tilted his head.

"Ryoma-sama, I think we might want to end today early." Fuji stated standing from his seat. "I'm afraid as is our personalities clash too much." Ryoma stood from his seat and glared at Fuji before wincing and collapsing to the floor. Fuji was instantly there, calling for the guards outside and getting Ryoma escorted to his quarters. As the guards helped Ryoma out he grabbed at Fuji's hand.

"You're grabbing one of those books and coming with me dammit." Ryoma growled out. "I refuse to suffer this pain without entertainment."

--

Atobe was held up with courtly duties, after all he had to arrange for a rather large 'wedding' with visiting dignitaries and all. It would, of course, be put off until after the baby was born but Atobe knew that these things took time. Such as the Yamabuki ambassadors insisting on including a known rebel and murderer in their party. Atobe could hardly count on Sengoku keeping Akutsu under control. Stepping into his quarters, Atobe headed straight for Ryoma's room. "Stay here." He told Shishido and Ohtori before opening the door and stepping inside.

Ryoma was lying back against a mountain of propped up pillows, his eyes scrunched closed and one hand holding harshly onto the bedspread. The other hand was clutching at Fuji's arm. Fuji sat in a chair that had been dragged closer to the bed a large dusty tome open in his lap. " . . . And then the monk realized he had inadvertently proposed to one of the ugliest women in that city. That's why you never offer a monk wine." Fuji stated simply. Ryoma's teeth clenched against another wave of pain and Atobe softly stepped closer. Ryoma had not noticed him yet, but would soon. Fuji was ignoring him.

"What," Ryoma ground out. "Does that have to do with Hyotei's tithes to the temple?" Fuji paused.

"Saa . . . If you can't figure that out Ryoma-sama, I'll be disappointed." Fuji said blithely. "But I'm sure your husband can tell you." Ryoma squinted his eyes open to see Atobe, who preformed an arrogant hair flip. Ryoma grunted before closing his eyes again.

"Well Atobe-sama? What does it have to do with the tithes?" Atobe smirked and slid onto the bed beside Ryoma, detaching the other's hand from the bedspread and holding it in his own.

"Well, she wasn't just the ugliest woman in the city, she was also the richest. She was the daughter of Hyotei's king at that time, but had not received any proposals because the King had kept her locked away until a suitable husband could be found. She was so overjoyed by the monk's proposal that she accepted right away, even though the monk was supposed to be celibate and was beneath her in status. Her father, horrified, offered to pay the monk off." Atobe smirked. "We have very cut throat religious officials, they milked the poor man for all he was worth and they're still feeding off of us."

Ryoma snickered slightly even as his nails dug into Atobe's flesh. The silver haired man winced slightly but decided he could live with a little pain.

"And now that your husband is here." Fuji stated, uncurling Ryoma's fingers from their death grip on his wrist. "I should take my leave."

"The lesson." Ryoma stated clamping back down on Fuji's wrist. "Isn't finished. You said you'd tell me about the fisherman and why there's a law against eating trout on weekends."

"That's a fun one." Atobe said as he propped Ryoma up a little and slid behind him to let Ryoma rest against his chest. "No one tells it like Syuusuke." The blue-eyed boy sent him a death glare but Atobe just smirked back at Fuji. Fuji sighed before shutting the book in his lap.

"There was a fisherman in the western provinces who was extremely well known for his ability to catch the biggest and most exotic fish . . ."

--

Shishido peeked into the bedroom when he realized that there did not seem to be anyone talking anymore. "Did they kill each other?" Jiroh whispered from wherever he had appeared from.

"No." Shishido smirked, opening the door wider so everyone could see. "It looks like there isn't going to be any trouble from them tonight." On the bed, Ryoma had curled up in Atobe's lap, and Fuji, it seemed, had been pulled onto the bed to lie stretched out against them. Jiroh let out a little squeal of excitement.

Fuji slid one eye open to glare at them. "The first person who blabs to the rest of the castle faces me in a practice match." He hissed menacingly before closing his eyes again. Shishido blanched and quickly shut the door.

"Sugoi Fuji-san!" Jiroh stated excitedly, glomping onto Ohtori as the other stood slightly white faced beside the door. "It's like he never sleeps! Fuji-san is so cool!" And then Jiroh bounced towards the door.

"Jiroh." Shishido snapped and the bouncy blond paused. "Where are you going?"

"To tell everyone of course! I want that practice match!" Jiroh stated before leaving in a whirlwind of excitement.

"Better him then me." Shishido grumbled as he leaned back against the door. He felt a migraine coming on.


End file.
